Maybe Dr. Banfield was a better dentist in 2011 as Wendi's review suggests, but I recently saw him in 2014 and did not have a similar experience.
First let me say the staff at Dr. Banfield's office are fantastic, they're very nice and courteous people. The office itself is clean and comforting, the issue I had with my experience was Dr. Banfield himself.
Dr. Banfield didn't say more than hello to me. I had to ask the receptionist on the way out how many cavities I had and where they were because he left the room without even telling me. So he was not very personable on my first visit, which is okay, he did his job and that's really all I cared about.
Then it came time to fill my cavities.
I am not proud to say I have had many cavities before. After I got my braces off I had 13 at once, so I'm no stranger to filling cavities. With Dr. Banfield, the whole process was silent, he did not explain anything he was doing to me and right off the bat stuck a needle in my gums without saying a word. The actual prick of the needle didn't hurt at all, but he kept it there for what felt like an eternity, I was visibly uncomfortable (cringing, moving my legs about) but trying to stay still for him. STILL he explained nothing to me.
But okay, no one likes getting shots in the mouth. The worst part? It was NOT enough Novocaine. Dr. Banfield never asked if I was numb, if I could feel anything, he never even told me where he was about to put the drill. The entire back of my jaw was completely numb, and then he began drilling in the front. While I was sitting there wondering whether I should say something about the fact that I was feeling the pressure of the drill, he struck a nerve and my whole body jolted.
Dr. Banfield proceeded to (I assume, since he told me nothing) inject Novocaine locally. Though I was numb, I could feel the needle was stuck between my teeth, he had to literally pull it until it finally yanked free.
Upon getting home and looking in my mouth, I realized he stuck the second needle in my gums (there was still a sore and sizable hole) and had lodged it between the roots of my teeth.
All of this would be forgivable, but my mouth is still sore three days later. Brushing my teeth on that side still hurts. I still see dark spots on my teeth despite the cavities supposedly being fixed and I am now nervous he didn't do a thorough job. I don't know enough to accuse Dr. Banfield of not being thorough, but my point is I don't feel like I can trust him. He didn't tell me ANYTHING. Literally he told me nothing more than his name and "nice to meet you," he didn't talk to me about the procedure, about cavities or how to avoid them, about how many I had, about where they were or about how long it would take to fix them. I would not recommend Dr. Banfield unless you're SURE you don't have any problems that need fixing. If it had just been a cleaning and check-up, this would be a much better review. read more